Although Beowulf is idolized throughout the whole story as a hero figure, he shows his conceited nature by taking full credit and not giving the same credit to those who helped him. Beowulf is a character that possesses all the qualities of an Anglo-Saxon period hero. He is brave, fearless, courageous and strong but are these qualities enough to consider him a hero by the standards of what we call a hero today ? A hero does not only need to be physically outstanding but he also needs to have moral values and needs to act without thinking in his own benefit.
Page fifty-five the story states “no one else could do what I mean to here, no man but me could hope to defeat this monster” Beowulf is lifting himself above everyone else in order to bring a glory to his name. Also, Beowulf watched one of his own men die in order to collect and develop a deeper understanding of Grendel, to eventually fight him and collect the glory of the win all to himself.
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On page fifty-four book says “but I will fight again, seek fame if the dragon hiding in the tower dares to face me”, although Beowulf is a great soldier he puts him own reputation at the the forefront of his mind when fighting the dragon; and makes it seem as if he is such a high and mighty figure when he isn’t, he is just a normal human being.
Page forty-three states “my father was a famous soldier, known far and wide as a leader of men. His name was edgetho. His life lasted many winters; wise men all over the earth surely remember him still.” Beowulf is trying to make himself seem like he is higher then everyone just because his father was someone very important.
In Beowulf’s interaction with Hrothgar Beowulf attempts to present almost a resume like speech to Hrothgar the king of herot , he comes off as somewhat cocky in his presentation, some examples are page forty-five “they have seen my strength for themselves, have watched me rise from the darkness of war dripping with my enemies blood.” And also on page forty-five “… that alone, with the help of my men may purge the evil of his hall.” As presented in my examples Beowulf comes off as cocky to king Hrothgar in order to land the job as the slayer of Grendel but the motive does not justify the way he presents himself. Beowulf did not have to kill all those poor monster, they were angry because the people were messing with him, if they had just been more considerate of the monsters nearby the would have never attacked them or their kingdoms but they did and Beowulf saw fame in killing Grendel and all the other monsters which does not make him a hero it makes him a murderer. He did not kill them all for the sake of the people he did it for all the fame that came with it
LGBTQ Rights Are Humans Rights
Over what turned out to be a more labor intensive lunch than I had anticipated, I recently had someone tell me that they believe being gay is a choice, and therefore, sexual orientation should not receive protection under the law. In short, my lunch companion asked: why should gay people be afforded the same benefits in marriage as heterosexual couples?Not surprisingly, the spokesperson of this view was a white, middle aged, male, who identifies as a Christian, and is a self proclaimed Republican.
I have nothing against any of these as personal choices, but it serves as a background for the context of the conversation. You may also recognize this character as the same person who believes in voter suppression because uneducated voters are “spoiling it for the rest of us.” You can read about that here. This individual and I disagree on many things — but I thank him for giving me topics to write about.2018 marked the 150th anniversary of the Fourteenth Amendment which, in part, says that “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”That last sentence is the big one, “nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
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That sentence appears to be pretty clear — not a single individual should be given preferential treatment in the eyes of the law.My lunch companions logic says differently; because the due process of law can reject homosexuals, that due process can acceptably lead to a conclusion in which a whole demographic is denied equal protection. He goes a step further to say that different people should receive different protection under the law. Thus the convenient legal excuse to argue against anyone who disagrees with his worldview.The real question is not around sexuality, but the inherent respect one has for human differences.
As you can easily guess, I’m not an attorney, so an answer that involves the legal precedent is not as important to me as the basic premise that the 14th Amendment espouses: let others live freely, and enjoy living free yourself. This part of the constitution appears to speak clearly that the rights of all people are worth protecting.A plain reading sees the Fourteenth Amendment as an extension of the Declaration of Independence “ We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”Ones personal belief on the morality of homosexuality is entirely besides the point — the question is whether human traits, chosen, desirable, innate, or otherwise, make someone a second class citizen? The answer is no. The law has an obligation to equally protect the rights of all people.
All people are entitled to an equality of opportunity, not to an equality of results.Under that claim, should government be involved in marriage at all? This is about more than just this one question — this is about all rights that we are afforded as human beings, and citizens of the United States. Should we be forced to give up our rights simply because they make others feel uncomfortable? It appears to be a slippery slope.What my lunch companion expressed at lunch is that “because being gay is a choice, I don’t think it should be protected.”What he missed is that someone else’s consensual relationship preferences are none of his business.
Why oppress others because their lifestyle falls outside his narrow worldview? Why bring the immense power of the state down on someone else to limit their freedom, especially when doing so could make him so vulnerable to the same unjust treatment on account of his religion or other characteristics, chosen or innate?“That government is best, which governs least.”— Various AttributionsInstead of demanding that we adhere to each others worldview, an exercise in futility, the purpose of government should be to protect the rights of the smallest minority — the individual. We should fight for the rights of all of the people, all of the time.
Our founders understood that concept when they declared the equality of humans in the eyes of the law, both in the declaration of independence and again in 1868 with the 14th Amendment.To the man I had lunch with, who told me that the rights of homosexuals should be lesser than heterosexuals; that battle is already long since lost. We live in a world where those who believe in lesser rights for homosexuals are the minority. I would not wish for your rights to be trampled on either. Seeking to punish those different than you will only give the currently disenfranchised permission to persecute you when the see-saw tips towards a different power.We can live in a better world by recognizing our differences, protecting our rights from encroaching powers, and by limiting those who interpret and make laws to the narrow responsibilities of their office.
